Vassey Hopes To Leave The Lab

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation‘s Liz Vassey would like to see Wendy Simms take a break from the lab and spend more time in the field during the upcoming tenth season.

Vassey admitted that she isn’t sure what’s coming up for her character, but she hopes fieldwork is involved. Last season, Wendy left the lab with new leading man Laurence Fishburne (Dr Ray Langston) in “Kill Me If You Can”. “I had a great time being able to shoot in the sunshine, as opposed to the darkness of the lab,” the actress told After Ellen.

It appears Vassey may get her wish to spend more time outside of the crime lab. She and costar Wallace Langham (David Hodges) recently went to Las Vegas to do a ride-along and speak with real CSIs. “I get the feeling things are moving in that direction,” she said.

Vassey is glad to have Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) back on CSI for several episodes this season, but she is disappointed that she hasn’t been able to film with the other actress yet. “We really like working together,” Vassey said. “And it’s nice when the women get to do stuff ’cause we’re outnumbered by the men on the show. We all genuinely like each other. But the law of averages says you’re probably going to be working with the guys.”

The number of women on the show is down by one now that Lauren Lee Smith (Riley Adams) has been cut from the cast. Riley joined the team during season nine, but as CSI Files previously reported, she won’t be back for season ten. “That had absolutely nothing to do with her talent, because she’s a very talented,” Vassey said of the decision to get rid of Smith’s character. “It was unfortunate — she was brought in at the same time as Laurence Fishburne. And [we] were in the midst of this perfect storm of cast upsets: three people leaving and Laurence coming in. I think she’ll land on something in about five seconds, if she hasn’t already.”

The original interview can be read in its entirety at After Ellen.